medicinal herbs
Swamp Cypress
Taxodium distichum

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Herb: Swamp Cypress

Latin name: Taxodium distichum

Synonyms: Cupressus disticha

Family: Taxodiaceae (Redwood Family)

Medicinal use of Swamp Cypress:

The resin in the cones is used as an analgesic for wounds.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Wet sites that are under water for at least part of the year, and often overlying calcareous soils. Often found where the water is brackish.

Other uses of Swamp Cypress:

The bark has been used to make cordage. Wood - light, soft, not strong, moderately hard, easily worked, straight grained, very durable in damp soil, takes a good polish. It weighs 28lb per cubic foot. The wood is not given to excessive warping or shrinking, it is used for construction, water pipes, vats etc.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - sow late winter in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. If sowing a lot of seed you could sow it in early spring in an outdoor seedbed. Allow the plants to grow on in the seedbed for two years and then plant them into their permanent positions in late autumn or early spring. Cuttings in the late summer.

Cultivation of Swamp Cypress:

Wet sites that are under water for at least part of the year, and often overlying calcareous soils. Often found where the water is brackish.

Known hazards of Taxodium distichum:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.